Apologies for the lack of updates recently. I'm moving house today and all my CDs are sealed neatly into bin bags. The only loose ones i can find are Speak by Lindsay Lohan and The Carnival by Wyclef Jean.

Japan's ability to co-opt cutting-edge culture from across the world is legendary. It seems perfectly natural for Japanese girls like Tigarah to be making their own baile funk records before the Brazilian ones even get to the UK. Perhaps the only genuinely surprising Japanese invasion in recent years has been in the world of dancehall. Not content to simply play to audiences in Tokyo, the Mighty Crown sound system stunned Jamaica by taking the World Cup Sound Clash title in 1999, beating the best the island had to offer. Even that pales in comparison to achievement of the remarkable Junko "Bashment" Kudo though.

Jamaica's clubs are dominated by its fearsome female dancers - famed for their hair extensions, skintight lycra, fierce attitude and, above all, their ability to pull off extraordinarily acrobatic /pornographic routines in platform heels. In 2002, Kudo (who apparently moonlights as a song-writer for J-pop star Namie Amuro) waltzed away with the title of Dancehall Queen. Well, not exactly "waltzed". I wouldn't necessarily suggest that you watch this at work.


Here's the aforementioned Tigarah's brilliant new song Roppongi-Dori which, in true carioca style, sounds rather similar to all her other ones.

Tigarah - Roppongi-Dori